Charismatic Catholics want more from church

Mary Wilhelm prays during a service at St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church on Sunday, June 29, 2014, in Nashville. Catholics speak and pray in tongues? Believe in door-to-door evangelism? That part of the world's largest denomination hasn't gotten much publicity, although they've had a conference in Nashville for years. And now they've got a new champion: Pope Francis.(Photo: John Partipilo, The Tennessean, Nashville)

NASHVILLE — They gathered in the little chapel at St. Ignatius of Antioch, lit by stained-glass abstracts capturing the setting sun, ready to experience something outside the bounds of Mass.

Some strummed guitars; others grabbed maracas and tambourines from a basket and joined in; still others quietly paged through Bibles brought from home. After each song came shouts of "We praise you! We glorify your holy name!" One man dropped to his knees, palms facing upward, whispering "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" over and over.

None of that would look unusual in Middle Tennessee's Pentecostal-leaning congregations, but these charismatics are challenging the notion of Catholicism as a buttoned-up faith. They're also claiming a powerful ally in Pope Francis, who in interviews and speeches has joked that he first regarded the animated charismatics as "samba school" students but now endorses them as a great force — possibly because Pentecostal denominations are converting millions of South American Catholics.

In the Nashville area, charismatics have been meeting for decades. There are regular prayer meetings at St. Ignatius plus St. Luke in Smyrna and Our Lady of the Lake in Hendersonville. And today, more than 200 will gather for a regional conference at St. Ignatius.

Local charismatic Catholics say they've been irrevocably changed for the better by their experience, which for some includes healing, spontaneous utterances of prophecy and praying in tongues. But they admit it's not for everyone.

"Deep down, some know that it requires a much bigger commitment to their spirituality and to the Lord, and I think that they're not sure they want to do that," said Bob Schwartz, one of the conference planners. "One thing about the renewal is you have to let God into your emotions as well as your brain."

A 2012 document cited by Catholic News Service said 120 million Catholics in 238 countries have been "baptized in the Holy Spirit" in the movement's nearly 50-year history. But the Catholic Charismatic Renewal's National Service Committee doesn't keep membership numbers.

A Pew Research report puts the total number of Catholics worldwide at 1.1 billion.

Anecdotal evidence indicates the movement, born in 1967 at a Duquesne University student retreat, has seen heartier days. Bruce Morrill, a Vanderbilt Divinity School professor and Jesuit priest, studied charismatic Catholics as part of his undergraduate thesis and recalls being packed into a church with about 600 other faithful, a priest calling out to some people to be healed while others prayed in tongues.

Many charismatic Catholics turned their attention to anti-abortion causes and devotion to Mary in the 1980s, he said. But Pope Francis supports any Catholic movements that revitalize people — rejecting the idea that there's one right way to worship — and understands the power the charismatic movement can have in Latin America.

Members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church lay hands on visitor Monsignor Peter Jelinic during a service on Sunday, June 29, 2014, in Nashville.(Photo: John Partipilo, The Tennessean, Nashville)

Brazil, for example, was 92 percent Roman Catholic in 1970 and 65 percent in 2010. The number of Brazilian Protestants rose from 26 million in 2000 to 42 million in 2010, Pew Research data show.

"You're talking a minuscule number within the larger Catholic body, and where it does exist, it exists in concentrated places," Morrill said. "It's taken off among some Latinos, which makes sense because Pentecostalism made huge inroads in Latin America. This allows people to keep themselves Catholic but lean toward Pentecostalism."

One of the speakers at the Nashville conference will be Bishop David Choby of the Diocese of Nashville, but he said he's never had a particularly charismatic experience.

And that's OK.

"There are so many different ways in which the presence and guidance of the light of the Holy Spirit is revealed in people's lives," he said. "Sometimes it is more dramatic and sometimes less so."